Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 1

Tax policy debates, generated by one of the most sweeping reforms of the Federalincome tax system since its inception, are certain to continue for years to come, providing afertile field for economic research. This book is the first in a series of annual publications ontax policy and the economy initiated by the National Bureau of Economic Research and designed toconvey research results in a way that is accessible to a wide body of lawyers, policymakers, andbusinesspeople involved in formulating tax policy.Volume 1 of Tax Policy and the Economy presentssix studies of diverse tax policy issues, each bringing new data to bear on an important policyissue. Alan Auerbach and James Poterba examine the striking decline in corporate tax revenues as ashare of GNP John Shoven describes new developments in corporate finance and tax avoidance,concluding that these devices have helped and will continue to help corporate shareholders escapethe double taxation of dividends.Herman Leonard and Richard Zeckhauser review the experience ofseveral states with tax amnesty programs and consider the likely effects of a Federal tax amnestyprogram. Jeffrey Harris explores the economic effects of tobacco taxation, particularly the effectthe recent hike in the Federal excise tax on cigarettes had on prices and on the number of smokers.Douglas Bernheim suggests that the Federal estate tax could conceivably reduce Federal tax revenues.And in a concluding chapter, Michael Boskin and Douglas Puffert show that the redistributionsbetween married workers and single workers in the Social Security system far outweigh the muchdiscussed "marriage tax" effects of the individual income tax.Lawrence H. Summers is Professor ofEconomics at Harvard University and Research Associate at the National Bureau of EconomicResearch.